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Comma

ONE WORD: Comma

I hate the overuse of commas, as well as the incorrect use of commas. People use them as an excuse to be long-winded. Or as a way to skirt the real issue--to be vague or indefinite. Sometimes, you just have to say what you mean.


Usually when I do OneWord, I don't bother reading what everyone else has written. But today, for some inexplicable reason, I did. Some of them are incredibly entertaining, others are completely off topic. Interestingly enough, I noticed many people mistook "comma" for "coma." Is it careless reading or ignorance? Check it out here.

Call me a nerd, but I love grammar. So few people these days understand proper grammar; I'm probably included in that category. More often than not, we see celebrities on TV abusing it mercilessly (to the point where I have to change the channel--it's that painful).

Last week, I was sorting through some of my old schoolwork from elementary school when I stumbled upon my Daily Oral Language composition book. Basically, the teacher put up three or four sentences on the board, complete with grammar mistakes. We were required to copy them down, correcting them as we scribbled onto our wide-ruled paper. That was how we learned correct grammar. I don't remember learning a lot of hard and fast rules about what makes a sentence work. We listened to the sound of each sentence, the clarity of the words and ideas, the fluidity of the words off our immature tongues.

In sixth grade, I did Academic Pentathlon (again, I'm a nerd). The legendary Coach Cooper was probably the first person who taught me how to really write. She taught us to organize our thoughts, to construct an argument, to support our ideas. Then in seventh grade, Mrs. Campbell taught us to "show not tell," to be descriptive and colorful and visual in our writing. Mrs. Hertzig in ninth grade taught us sentence diagramming and showed us how to construct more complicated sentence combinations. And several of my Biola professors (Buck, John Mosqueda, Tamara Welter) taught me a lot about editing and refining my writing.

I think what fascinates me the most about grammar is that it's such a powerful tool, and yet it's so widely neglected. We may appreciate it in its various forms: we enjoy reading good books, we laugh at cleverly-worded advertisements, we arrange our schedules to watch excellently-scripted TV shows. But do we ever take the time to think how important a parenthetical can be, or how much a couple of m-dashes can add? How often do we think about the importance of subject-verb agreement? Do we appreciate that a misplaced comma can completely change the tone and thought of a sentence? Do we acknowledge that some of most powerful people in our day and age wield their power through the written and spoken word?

We sometimes complain about international students having better English grammar than those of us who grew up speaking English as our first language. Grammar, however, does not come intuitively. We often understand grammar through years of experience--reading, writing, hearing, and speaking the language. We know how to use it, how to navigate in the grammatical world of English. But try learning the grammar of another language--Chinese, Japanese, Hebrew, Spanish--and it's suddenly complicated, convoluted, and foreign. It's no longer intuitive.

Language is, perhaps, one of the things that convinces me that there is a God who created the universe and who sustains all things. The ability of human beings to manipulate language, to construct sentences and paragraphs and books, to communicate through combinations of letters and characters (I can hear Ariel now, "Lynnette, I need to consult you on a matter of semiotics")--who can explain that?

Today's Twittering, Facebooking, socially-networked and Blackberry-dependent culture has shown us a lot about grammar and about writing. We bookmark someone's blog because a) they have access to the information we want or b) they write in such a way to capture our attention and affections (by this I mean emotions, passions, interests). On one hand, our short snippet and tiny keyboard platforms have lead to the abuse and complete ransacking of our grammatical structures. I think MTV culture has only added to the dissolution of English grammar.

At the same time, the need for people to become adept communicators is overwhelming. Whether in corporate business or a simple site in the blogosphere, our increasingly shrinking, globalized world requires that we have people who can write--people who understand that grammar is the fuel needed to give power to their words. So next time you read a great book, or bookmark an awesome blog, be inspired by the beauty of good grammar. And don't forget to how to use a comma.


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Testimony

Just as a follow-up to my last post on Jin:

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I should be asleep...

This evening at ROCK, we talked about the sufficiency of God's grace, particularly in suffering--times of the "thorn in the flesh" (I'm not going through anything as difficult or painful as that, but I am learning what it means to really depend on the Lord for each day). So Tony asked the question, "Are you aware of God's grace during times of difficulty?" But I think it's appropriate to ask, "Are you aware of God's grace each and every day?"

We talked about how God comforts us (2 Cor. 1:3-4), delivers us (2 Cor. 1:8-10), and shows us how He is at work (2 Cor. 7:6-9). One ROCKer suggested that we can experience God's grace in times when He allows us to feel His presence. And then I mentioned that sometimes I read or hear words (from the Bible, from a wise friend, etc.) that seem perfect for my situation--as Tony said, a "word from God."

After our lesson, we broke up into pairs to discuss the lesson and pray for each other. As luck (or "destiny"--providence?) would have it, I ended up with George. It was so encouraging to see how much my "little brother" has grown in the Lord, in discipline, and even just in his view of life. I was able to share some of my own recent anxieties, and the words he gave me were full of both wisdom and concern. Even his prayer for me was a real blessing.

And then when I came home, one of the girls that I'm teamed up with for projects at work messaged me. She gave me a lot of encouraging and sage advice about adjusting to work and finding out what God is calling me to do. Maybe even the feeling of, "Oh, I'm not alone," made me feel a lot better about what I'm doing. I'm excited to see what the Lord has in store for me and how He will direct my life, and I'm thankful for the grace He has shown me even tonight.
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On self-control

In Kaleo Sunday School, we've been studying the book of Titus. In Chapter 2, we discussed the importance of teaching "what accords with sound doctrine"--the behavior and lifestyle which is above reproach (2: 1). Paul repeated emphasizes the need for Christians to be self-controlled (or 'sensible'). There are so many areas of my life where I lack self-control; I seem to always be coming before the Lord asking forgiveness for my constant failure. This week, in fact, I've been a little discouraged at my own shortcomings.

As I've had the topic of self-control on my mind, I've also been thinking about what it means to live a life that "adorn[s] the doctrine of God our Savior" (2:10). It seems to me that sound doctrine and a holy lifestyle are inseparable in Paul's mind. Born-again Christians, as Kevin so deftly put it, will naturally put on the good deeds that are characteristic of one who has been transformed by the saving work of Jesus Christ. But that transforming work is--for all intents and purposes--built on the foundation of God's Word. So what we teach, whether or not our doctrine is sound, and how much we read the Bible are all incredibly important.

Okay, back to the main point. I was thinking about self-control and its relationship with holiness, and about my lack of (probably both) self-control (and holiness). Another point Paul reiterates in his letter to Titus is the importance of being above reproach for the sake of the reputation of the Gospel. What can I do, I asked myself, to pursue self-control and holiness in my life? How can my life be an adornment for the Gospel? Anyways, with all of these thoughts floating around inside my head, I came across an article in one of Piper's books, in which he writes:
That is the key to purity and holiness, the key to lasting effectiveness in all of life: constant contemplation of the glory of Christ.
Maybe this wasn't entirely the answer I was looking for, but it struck me as a particularly practical approach to my problem (I apologize, that was WAY too alliterative). To contemplate the glory of Christ is to bring my perspective back into focus; to fill my mind with sound doctrine--about Christ, about my salvation, about who I am in relationship to Him--and let that motivate how I live. When I have a correct view of God, then I can also have a right view of self-control and holiness.

So then, what does it mean to contemplate the glory of Christ? In what ways do you contemplate the glory of Christ?
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Job-related...

...sort of anyways. I've been researching and listening to a whole new genre of music lately--expanding my audial horizons I suppose. Stumbled upon this (though it's not entirely coincidental). Have a listen.


I'm curious; what do you guys think?

For those of you in the UK who are interested in seeing him perform, Jin will be in London this October. I was told to invite you. So click here for more info.